Product Description

The secret is out: cooler-zone gardeners are discovering that with a little wintertime TLC, plants that have long been considered "annuals" can thrive for many years. These plants — including geraniums, gladioli, dahlias, begonias, rosemary, lavender, and even impatiens — aren't annuals at all. Rather, they are tender perennials. Not hardy enough to survive winter on their own, they can be moved indoors during the cold months, and then returned to the garden in spring. Many are even more beautiful in their second and third years!

Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill by Alice McGowan and Brian McGowan, is the first comprehensive resource on the care and maintenance of tender plants. In this zone-defying guide, readers will find simple techniques for overwintering, followed by 160 detailed plant profiles. Profiles include individualized advice for overwintering and indoor care. The growing advice is clear and time tested; the authors themselves spent decades introducing and nurturing tender plants at the renowned Blue Meadow Farm Nursery in Montague, Massachusetts.

From familiar snapdragons to the more exotic bush morning glory (a woody vine whose fragrant white blooms will cheer any indoor setting in late winter), tender perennials are appealing to a wide and diverse audience — perennial pros looking to expand their plant palettes, container gardeners hoping to create a more colorful indoor landscape during the cold months, and thrifty gardeners of all skill levels. Both inspirational and practical, Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill will revolutionize perennial gardening, allowing enthusiastic growers in any location to enjoy their favorite plants year after year.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463276 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
Alice & Brian McGowan operated Blue Meadow Farm in Montague, Massachusetts, for eighteen years. Over that period of time, their nursery became well known throughout the region for its wide selection of unusual annual, perennial, and tender perennial plants.

Alice & Brian McGowan operated Blue Meadow Farm in Montague, Massachusetts, for eighteen years. Over that period of time, their nursery became well known throughout the region for its wide selection of unusual annual, perennial, and tender perennial plants.

Customer Reviews

cheapskate's delight
Got this for Christmas, and I know I will use it a lot. Am already debating which tender perennials to try for 2009. Thunbergia alata? Moonflower? And who knew that Saliva guaranitica and mirabilis can be overwintered as tubers? This book is a godsend in an economy where dollars must be stretched.

Laypersons and Professionals alike will love this book!
This book answers the many questions that gardeners have who wish to carry over their tender plants from one year to another. Why throw away those lovely geraniums and dahlias and tender bulbs when they can be grown and flowered over and over. Look at it as a very environmentally friendly practice that doesn't require recycling your hard-earned dollars. And these suggestions are not gotten from other sources like many books written by so-called professionals. They are gleaned from actual experience gained from years of bringing many previously thrown away plants back into bloom.

Helpful and informative!
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (12/08)


"Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill" by Alice and Brian McGowan provides information on "how to grow and overwinter 165 tender plants." After a little bit of history about the authors and their beginnings, the book dives into an explanation as to just what a tender perennial is. Being new to gardening, I found this explanatory section helpful to establish a foundation of knowledge on the subject. A tender perennial is "a plant that, though hardy in its original habitat, will not survive the winter outdoors in the climate of the gardener." (p.14)

Also in the first section is a discussion about the origins of different perennials and how they come from all over the world. It makes sense to think about where a plant is originally from in order to determine how it would be best to grow it and keep over the winter. I find it fascinating that (with the right care) you can have plants originally from different parts of the world growing right in your very own backyard.

The authors state that only growing hardy plants, while it "simplifies gardening activities," does put a limit on the options available to you and then they go on to present reasons as to why you should try tender perennial gardening. In order to successfully do this you need to be aware of the variety of ways that you can overwinter your plants. Different types of plants will do best in certain circumstances. For instance, citrus plants like areas that are cool with bright light, whereas dahlias prefer areas that are dark and damp.

Although I found the first half of the book to be very interesting and came away with a lot of knowledge about plants, I really enjoyed the second half of the book, which examines the various types of tender perennials available, and includes pictures, design ideas, and information on how to overwinter each of them. There are so many pretty and different varieties of tenders available that I am truly inspired to give overwintering a try. "Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill" provides so many useful tips and instruction that I am sure I will be referring to it often on my quest to beautifully landscape my yard!